In the mid 1970s, Paul Newman
was interviewed on a television chat show about his social and political
opinions. Newman was candid but seemed slightly ill-at-ease, and eventually
exclaimed "Oh come on. People don't want to hear this. Let's talk about
movies and glamour and Gina Lollobrigida!" The audience all laughed. What is
significant about this, apart from Paul Newman's lack of self-importance,
is that he cited Gina Lollobrigida, with whom he had never worked. He did
not cite a Hollywood glamour girl, nor an Italian actress he had worked with,
like Sophia Loren or Pier Angeli. He named Gina Lollobrigida.
Gina Lollobrigida is one
of the best-looking women ever to appear in movies, and is a key figure in
post World War Two glamour. She symbolises both the bridge between Europe
and Hollywood, and post-war concepts of beauty and desirability. Gina
also typifies the growing self-sufficiency of women in the second half of the twentieth
century, while her career mirrors the European transition from the austerity
and squalor of the immediate post war years to the confident prosperity of
the '50s and '60s.
Gina was born in 1927 just
outside Rome, and so her formative years were during Mussolini's Fascist regime
and the Second World War.
During Gina's childhood,
Italian cinema concentrated on "white telephone" movies which were
social comedies in luxurious settings. In the immediate aftermath of the Second
World War, Italian cinema reacted against "white telephone" movies
and gave birth to "neo-realism", the essence of which was the elimination
of artificiality. To make their movies as realistic as possible, film makers shot
on location, de-glamorised their actors by using very little make-up, and sometimes
employed members of the public rather than professional actors. Some of the
"neo-realism" movies of the 1940s are still admired today, and one
is relevant to the emergence of Gina Lollobrigida.
"Riso Amaro" (a.k.a.
"Bitter Rice") was set in the Po Valley among women rice workers
who hitched their dresses into their underwear when wading through the rice
fields. The star was a newcomer named Silvana Mangano who had a magnificent
face, strong and handsome rather than pretty. Dressed in tight shorts and
with
her legs on display, Silvana had a glorious femininity that was entirely
undiminished by naturalistic lighting and the lack of make-up. She was an overnight
sensation. "Riso Amaro" was a huge commercial success although
most patrons went to ogle Silvana, not to admire "neo-realism"
cinema. The lesson was that ostentatiously feminine actresses who did
not need the assistance of lighting, costumes and make-up could bring
commercial success to low budget movies. However Silvana Mangano
did not become a big star. She married the producer Dino De Laurentiis,
and went into semi-retirement. She appeared only in his productions, and left
the way clear for other contenders with flamboyant femininity that neither
drab clothes nor realistic lighting could suppress.
Gina
Lollobrigida was physically ideal to fill the gap created and
left by Silvana Mangano. She had already made her debut in movies, having
previously entered beauty contests and done occasional work as a model. Like Mangano, Gina had a well shaped face that was more handsome than pretty,
and which was set off to advantage by close-cropped hair. (There are few pictures
of her with long hair.)
Gina also had an exuberant figure, and superb arms, legs and shoulders. She
did not look like Greta Garbo. She did not resemble pre-war movie Love Goddesses
at all.
She did not need special treatment from either the make-up
department or the camera crew. In hurriedly-made, low-budget movies, her femininity would be
unmistakable.
Until 1948, the year of "Riso
Amaro", Gina had played small roles in several movies, but thereafter
she was given the female lead in a wide variety of films, including those
with an operatic background. (Her singing voice was dubbed.) She received
good notices for her performances, and understandably her looks also attracted
enthusiastic attention.
Gina's career has had three
main characteristics, and the first is her desire for publicity and her skill
in obtaining it.
Aware of the admiration her
looks were arousing, Gina in the late '40s and early '50s pursued a parallel
career as a pin-up. She was extremely successful, and her image appeared
on magazine covers on both side of the Atlantic. Gina was also one of
the first movie stars to have her pictures appear in publications unconnected
with show-business and specialising in subjects like fashions, photography and
home decor. (Anita Ekberg and Tina Louise would soon go down the same path
in America.) Because Gina was so strikingly feminine yet so different from
pre-war glamour queens like Marlene Dietrich and Carole Lombard, the public
appetite for her pin-up pictures was almost unlimited, and Gina did not disappoint
her public!
Glamour
photographs flaunting arms, legs and cleavage did not originate with Gina.
The way had been prepared by the Second World War in general, and by the legs
of Betty Grable and the swim-suits of Esther Williams in particular. However, by
constantly displaying the splendour of her body and limbs, Gina's pin-up pictures
changed the general public's expectations of a glamour queen. Since Gina's
arrival, not one flat-chested actress, nor one with bloated hips has been accepted by the public at large
as a Love Goddess. In
terms of a relay race, Gina took the baton from Lana Turner, ran with it,
and handed it on to Sophia Loren.
Gina did not achieve the revolution alone, but she ran longer and further
than any-one else.
Although Gina's pin-up pictures
were not greatly different from those of Lana Turner and Betty Grable
a few years earlier, they invoked hostility among some critics. Not only was
Gina built like a beauty queen, but she also had a face that suggested strength
of will. The critical establishment of the '40s and '50s, which had been
weaned on Norma Shearer and Irene Dunne, resented challenging actresses
who personified independence and sex, and took a strong dislike to Gina. (Within a few years that same critical establishment
would warmly endorse Sophia Loren
and Marilyn Monroe, both of whom communicated vulnerability, not independence.)
The second recurring feature
of Gina's career has been her avoidance of token female roles, and her preference
for playing forceful protagonists at the centre of events, even if they were
unpleasant people. Frequently Gina has played sordid types, including a surprising
number of whores and harlots, and this further antagonised the critics.
When Gina played unsympathetic women, in films like "Alina", "La
Romana" (a.k.a. "Woman Of Rome") and "Go Naked In The
World", some obtuse critics assumed that it was Gina's own personality that was
coming through! (Bette Davis, Clark Gable and Kirk Douglas only played
flawed characters who were far more charismatic, intelligent and audacious than
any-one else in the movie. They were admired by critics. By contrast, John
Wayne, Fred MacMurray, Dean Martin and James Stewart never received credit for playing characters
whose defects were neither softened nor glamorised, so Gina was in excellent
company.)
The
third main characteristic of Gina's career has been a determination to
make as many international, English-language movies as possible.
While still a beginner in
movies, Gina tried negotiating with Hollywood to appear in their films. Her
first contact seems to have been with Howard Hughes whose interest in Gina
could perhaps have been predicted. Gina quickly returned to Italy, allegedly
in anger, and nothing came of the negotiations, except that Gina was unable
to work in America for several years. (It would be interesting to hear Gina's
account of this episode!) Undaunted, she worked in France, and in 1952 was rewarded
with a major success, "Fanfan La Tulipe", a swash-buckler in which
she played a recruiting-sergeant's daughter who dupes men into
joining the army.
The following year Gina had
her first English language movie, "Beat The Devil" directed by John
Huston, no less. Sadly, "Beat The Devil" is almost unwatchable. In his autobiography
"An Open Book", Huston makes an unpersuasive attempt to re-habilitate
the movie. During filming, magazines reported that Humphrey Bogart was consistently
unchivalrous towards Gina. When asked about this by one journalist, Bogart remarked
"I'm not a bosom man". (This does not explain why he was ungallant
towards Audrey Hepburn when making "Sabrina".)
Gina was compensated
that year by "Pane, Amore E Fantasia" (a.k.a "Love, Bread And
Dreams"), an earthy comedy that was a huge box-office success in Italy
and which
her made a top star. So successful was the movie that two sequels were
made. Gina had further success with "La Donna Piu Bella del Mondo"
(a.k.a. "The Most Beautiful Girl In The World"). She was now the
biggest female star in Italy, and the subject of great interest throughout
the world.
In 1956 Gina became an international star with "Trapeze",
a circus story where, dressed in acrobat's attire that revealed her pin-up
qualifications, she played an ambitious and unscrupulous young woman who is
taken by surprise by her own emotions. When first released, the film was scorned
by critics who were dismayed by director Carol Reed's choice of material
- they felt he should have kept faith with Graham Greene and Joseph Conrad - but
"Trapeze" stands the test of time, and is a good film with a well-constructed
screenplay. It is the most frequently revived of Gina's movies and has been
issued on DVD.
The
hostility of sections of the media towards Gina became increasingly apparent
during this period. Newspaper and magazine articles frequently accused her
of being a prima donna, fiery and argumentative. There were no reports
that Gina was uncooperative with her colleagues. Nor was it suggested that
she regularly fell ill at critical moments - as Elizabeth Taylor did - or
failed to be ready for work at the allotted time - as Marilyn Monroe did.
In essence, the complaints were that Gina stood up for herself, and was willing
to raise her voice when doing so.
Gina was clearly aware that her looks were
an important contribution to her success, and she was insistent that her photographs
should be as flattering as possible and that her movies should show her to
advantage. However instead of indicating that Gina was fighting her corner
and protecting herself,
the media persistently reported she was troublesome.
In the late 1950s, competition
from Hollywood glamour girls as well as severe local competition from Sophia
Loren reduced media interest in Gina. Her publicity photographs were now far
more restrained and there were very few pictures of her in swim suits. Gone
were the days when Gina was presented as earthy and sexy. Now, reflecting
the new prosperity, Gina was shown wearing fashionable dresses in elegant settings.
Despite
popular successes like "Come September" opposite Rock Hudson and
"Woman Of Straw" opposite the then super-hot Sean Connery, many
of her English language movies were lack-lustre - "Never So Few"
is particularly sluggish - and by the mid-1960s Gina's career had lost
its momentum. She continued making movies, and sometimes had surprise box-office
successes like "Buona Sera Mrs Campbell", but Gina had passed her
peak.
Gina wound down her film
career in the early 1970s, and pursued new interests. Always a skilled photographer,
she had a collection of her photos of Italy printed in "Italia Mia",
and later other books of her photographs were published. More recently, a
collection of her sculptures has been exhibited in Moscow, Venice and Paris.
Gina has also run for political office, without success, and directed two
television documentaries about political figures, Fidel Castro and Indira
Gandhi. Gina has worked for UNESCO, UNICEF and Medicines Sans Frontiers, and
is an ambassador for The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United
Nations. Gina has been awarded various citations and honours in recognition
of her work for charitable causes.
Intellectual fashion has not
yet caught up with Gina. Although some members of the feminist movement now
- at long last - realise that Doris Day's career and persona make her an
appropriate icon for contemporary women, they still do not recognise the example
set by Gina Lollobrigida: breaking free of her background, determinedly using
what assets she had, standing up for herself, rejecting token female roles,
spurning Howard Hughes, making an international success
of her career nevertheless, and in middle-age re-inventing herself. Film critics
too who now appreciate, for example, Robert Mitchum after decades of sneering at him, still
have not re-assessed Gina's work. However, the release of her films on
DVD is alerting younger critics to Gina's merits: her performances in "Fanfan
La Tulipe" and "Wife For A Night", both recently released on
DVD, have been praised on various web-sites. There is still time for Gina
to receive belated recognition.
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